Team Ten A mission to remember
by DoomsdayTyler
Summary: Shikamaru, Ino and Chouji are closer than ever as a team; but when they are sent on a misson with eachother for a whole month, what the hell's going to happen? Shikino xx team ten fic!


He'd never forget it. None of them would.

* * *

Blonde eyebrows furrowed together over sparkling aqua eyes. Her lips pursed, she began to poke at the roses in front of her, as if hoping they would jump up and run into a presentable position. They didn't. She sighed.

'No use,' She muttered to herself, prodding at the deep red flowers once more. Glancing at the clock, then back to the flowers, she found herself getting more and more irritated. Why the heck couldn't she do this!? She was a Kunoichi for Pete's sake! She'd been learning how to arrange flowers since before she even started to fancy Sasuke-_kun_! ( That was one crush she had let go off a long time ago.) She sighed, forced herself to her feet and slammed her hands down on the wooden table, causing her mother to glance over in worry.

'You don't have to do that, you know, Ino?' She asked, walking to her daughter's side. 'I'll finish it. Hey- You did pretty well for a first attempt at roses!'

Ino found herself blushing slightly at the compliment; it wasn't because she wasn't _used _to getting given them, it was because it was her mother who had gave her it. She was a spoilt child by no means, but that didn't mean she didn't _like_ getting praised by her parents. She grinned at her mum, trying to erase the redness of her cheeks. 'Really?' She asked honestly, because truth be told, she hated what she had created with the roses.

Her mother nodded. 'Yeah, but,' She picked up another assortment of pink roses and began to bunch them together with the red ones, creating a aura that reminded Ino of a sunset, 'You should add pink to red. The blood red and delicate pink...'

But Ino wasn't listening. Two words had made it into her mind and they alone had blocked the world out.

_Blood_ red.

Every time she heard that word, Ino's head was full of images she so dearly wished to erase. Images of her sensei, blood trailing down his face, over his chest, _all_ over him as he told his students his last words. Images of his blood on her hands as she tried to desperately to do something, anything to help him. Images of Shikamaru and Chouji's faces; those pitiful tears falling down Chouji's cheeks as he sobbed, mixing with the rain that managed to choose the most depressing time to start plunging down upon them, and Shikamaru's eyes, so full of despair and hopelessness as he stared at their lifeless teacher. It was damn depressing.

It had been over a month since they had gotten revenge for their sensei's death. Well, she said 'they' but it was more Shikamaru than anyone who had done the real work- and that thought always made her feel a little guilty inside. Worthless, even. There really wouldn't have been any difference if she hadn't of been there; accept maybe she wouldn't have been nearly strangled and had to have been saved. She hated admitting it to herself that she needed to improve, but she knew she did. She hated feeling left behind…watching Shikamaru's back, Chouji's back, Sakura's….

Ino was ripped from her memories by a prod in the arm; gentle but nevertheless able to rid her of her thoughts. Her mother was looking at her with her brows furrowed and a fierce look in her eyes.

'Are you listening to me!?' She demanded, hands on hips and lips pursed. Ino bit back a laugh. It was like looking into the future.

'U-Uh,' Ino smiled sheepishly, after a few seconds silence, and knowing her mothers patience, like her own, if she didn't answer quickly she would probably end up being given another week's work or something. 'Yeah!' She said, ' I am- something about the roses, right? Look, mum, do you need me to work tonight?' She asked suddenly, a thought popping into her mind out of no where in particular. Her mum seemed pretty taken back by the swift change of subject, her eyes widening to express it, but she just shook her head.

'No- well, let me just check the…' Her mum walked away, shaking her head as if she was disapproving something.

Ino watched her go for a second, her fingers reaching subconsciously for a spare flower that had been left out earlier and twirling it between her fingers. She bit her lip. Hopefully if she wasn't working tonight, she could meet up with Shikamaru and Chouji and they could hang out someplace. She frowned. Just when had she started to actually want to hang out with those two dumbasses anyway? The thought made her smile thought, if someone had asked her three years earlier what she would want to do on a Friday night, she would have replied with anything but hang out with a lazy bum and a chubby guy. But, she thought, today isn't three years ago. Today's now.

'Ino, dear!'

She looked up to her mum, who was calling from the counter of the flower shop.

'Yeah?' She asked, dropping the flower from her fingers and bouncing to her mums side.

'You're free for tonight. What're you planning on doing, sweetheart?'

Ino gave her mother a soft smile, 'Well, I was going to ask Shikamaru and Chouji if we could hang out some place. I need to talk to Shikamaru about the-'She paused, the look on her mothers face purely readable. And she instantly knew she had made a mistake in telling the truth. Her cheeks burned severely as she realised what her mother was about to say.

'Don't even think about anything like _that_ mum! My god, you're such a- such a- such a-'

'Romantic!?' Her mother assumed, dramatically, smiling like an idiot. 'You know what you need to do Ino! Be alone with him if you're looking for a confession-'

Ino's eye twitched. The fact her mother wanted her to get together with Shikamaru wasn't something new to her, but every time she mentioned it it pissed her off just a little more. Not only was it as embarrassing as hell, it held no logic and to top things off-

'I already have a boyfriend mum!' She shouted, even though her mum knew. She glared at her, throwing her blonde hair over her shoulder and huffing. 'I've told you not to say pointless things like that about me and Shikamaru- I don't like him like that, Okay!?' She demanded, only getting a goofy grin in return.

'Well why do you want to spend the night with Shika-kun instead of Takashi-kun!?'

Ino's face reddened. 'Because he's on a mission! You know he is! Stop saying such worthless things!'

Her mother considered what she had said for a second, a softer look falling over her facial features and giving her daughter a rare look. 'Right,' She smiled, 'Of course.'

'Whatever,' Ino let a sigh out, relieved that her mum had gotten over the whole 'InoShika' phase for today. She swore, if she ever said that when Shikamaru when around….Ino shivered. It would be more than embarrassing. 'I'm going to call Shikamaru and ask him about tonight.'

The older blonde watched her daughter walk away with a slightly gloomy aura following her; she smiled, gazing affectionately at Ino as she went. Sometimes, it was hard to predict just when that girl would figure her own heart out. She had known for a long time Ino had been in love with Shikamaru, and teasing her about it might one day help. If she mentioned it enough times, maybe her daughter would actually realise it herself? She smiled. Or maybe she already knew it, and was just locking her feelings away in attempt to protect herself. Touching her own chest above her heart, she realised just how much her and Ino were truly alike.

* * *

Ino really didn't believe her mother sometimes. She glowered, throwing another top aside to the pile of rejects, and pulling out another to study it. She huffed a sigh when she noticed how badly it would clash with her jacket and flung it over her shoulder. What the hell was her mum on about, anyway!? Why did she have this – she grabbed another top furiously – STUPID idea that she and Shikamaru were in love? She glared at the top as if it was the fabrics fault and dropped it, diving back into the closet. She had a boyfriend! She threw another top aside without even looking at it. She wasn't in love with Shikamaru. _No way_. Ino frowned, pursed her lips and finally decided on a orange tee that would go fine with her three quarter jeans and pink jacket. That didn't calm her nerves though. Just why did her mum think she had the right to go saying things like that? It wasn't as if it was the first time, either. Her mum had had this stupid idea in her mind for a year now- even two weeks earlier, when she had started dating her boyfriend, her mother had insisted she was doing the wrong thing by not dating Shikamaru!

She was practically steaming. She stormed over to her bed, and grabbed the ringing phone on her side- forcing it to her ear and trying to calm down. The voice on the other side of it only enraged her though.

'Yes…..I know I rang you! Yeah, it would help if you actually answered the phone once in a while….what- what do you mean you were sleeping!? THAT'S NO EXCUSE!...Right, whatever!....Yeah, tonight….Of course! No, he's on a mission…..No he won't be there! I don't see why you have such a grudge against him-right, whatever! Just be there!....Yes, I'm fine, Shikamaru. See you tonight, right?'

When Ino hung up the phone, her eyes were softer and she had a gentle smile on her face. She could feel herself getting a little bit cooler, and she flopped back onto her bed. Even though Shikamaru and Chouji pissed her off to no end, she had to admit that speaking and spending time with them always made her feel a little better. She couldn't quite remember when she had took to liking them so much; maybe after spending so many nights in tents with the two, and sharing so much group training, some things just happened without them realising, like becoming friends. No, she thought, friends probably wouldn't cover what relationship they had now….not after everything they had been through. She hated thinking about that though…and only when she and her team would visit….Asuma's grave, would she allow herself to set time aside from those thoughts. For the time being she would keep the happy memories of her sensei with her, even if it hurt, it would be ungrateful to not keep them dear to her. It would be disrespectful to her sensei's memory to forget the happy times of team ten. She smiled, fingers clenching the purple and pink duvet and she inhaled, almost sighing but managing to keep a smile throughout exhaling. Things would get better….she had her friends, even if they were ahead of her…she had always seen that as something to work towards. When Sakura had taken up medical training, so had Ino. She ignored the little twist in her stomach that told her she couldn't do anything for Asuma with her training, but that, more than anything, made her want to get better. Shikamaru was ahead of her in his skills of….she pouted to herself, well, he was pretty much better than her in everything. Other than cooking. And flower arranging. And waking up. She smirked. Ok, so anything un-ninja related. Chouji was a lot nicer than her, she had this extremely…angry way about her that even she couldn't deny, if anyone ever hit a nerve she would be completely defensive and go crazy on them sometimes. She envied Chouji for the way he didn't care about what others felt, too. That was another thing she wanted to work towards. Not being so….vein. She had stopped the whole dressing up stuff a long time ago, sure, she still liked to look like she had some sort of fashion sense, but the idea of waking up from the precious sleep they got on missions to do her hair didn't appeal all to much to her anymore.

Ino sat up, eyes flicking to the window, and a calm smile came to her lips. She had seen a lot of pain lately, but somehow, she had managed to get through it. She had a feeling it was thanks to her friends.

She stood up, stretching out and throwing her clothes on. She ran her fingers through her fringe, brushing it to the side and glanced at the clock. She still had around 30 minutes, so she thought that maybe she could get some work done before leaving. Ino stopped in her tracks. Someone was here, someone was in her room. Her fingers reached instinctively towards her kunai, she could tell where this person was without looking, she could feel his breathing in her ears…she was worried, no doubt. She clasped the kunai, and within seconds she had threw it in the direction of her intruder.

'Ow!'

* * *

'I'LL TAKE THREE MORE BEEF SERVINGS!' Chouji yelled, pointing at the menu and face full of excitement. The waiter looked more than little scared, and he began to back away, replying with nothing but a small nod before sprinting from the customer. Shikamaru sighed, staring out the window. He didn't get Ino sometimes. She was the one to ask them to come out, and yet here she was being late! Troublesome, that's what she was. Along with his mother, who had practically kicked him out the house when he had complained about going, and his aunt, who he had bumped into on his way here looked ready to give him a slap for even considering, when he had put the thoughts to words, going home instead of freezing his butt off outside. All women were troublesome. It was a fact of life.

He glanced at Chouji and smirked; the boy was scoffing _low_-fat food down his throat in his usual fashion. He had noticed that Chouji had actually lost a little weight lately. Shikamaru guessed that had something to do with Asuma's words to him, and it made him smile a little more. Chouji caught his eye and raised his own in surprise, as if asking if something was up.

'Eh,' Was all Shikamaru muttered, leaning back in his seat, his arms behind his back as he stared at the ceiling. Where the hell was Ino, anyway?

Shikamaru found himself thinking of her a lot more lately. They had hardly spent any time together in the last two weeks, and he knew why. It was because she had also managed to follow their sensei's last words to her; she had found love. Well, he thought, it wasn't exactly love, but it could blossom into it in the due future, perhaps. Maybe. It had bothered him to no end that she was in a relationship, not because he was jealous like his father had suggested, but because he was worried that maybe she would start lacking in her shinobi tasks if she was so lovey dovey'd up. He couldn't be on the same team as someone who slacked off because they were too busy being in _love_. He nearly sneered at the thought of it; love. Asuma had told her not to loose to Sakura, so what had she gone and done? Found a boy who, like nearly all the males in their village, fancied her to no end, and ended up going out with him without even knowing him properly. His name was Takashi something- he hadn't even bothered to learn his second name due to simply not caring enough. He had mouthed these thoughts (leaving out the dislike for her boyfriend and sticking with the worries of her slacking off ) to Ino the last time he had seen her; she had ended up hitting him over the head and telling him not worry, and that they were a team and that was what mattered most, throwing in a glare and shouting at him for thinking she would put her romantic life ahead of her shinobi one. Shikamaru let out a sigh, he supposed that as long as what she said was true, things would be okay. He looked over towards the door, hoping to see her walk in any minute soon- but wasn't surprised when she didn't, and he just hoped she hadn't actually forgot she was meant to be there. She had seemed pretty pissed off on the phone, maybe something had happened?

Shikamaru shook his head, clearing it of thoughts of why Ino had sounded upset and looked back to the window, watching as some children ran past, big grins on their faces. He watched them for a further 10 minutes, and found his own lips curled into a smile. If only those children knew how lucky they were to live in a world of their own without the worries of….

'Shikamaru, Chouji.'

Said boys snapped their heads in the direction of the all too familiar voice, becoming a little more interested as they saw the blonde walking towards them with a taller man. His jacket indicating he was jounin; Shikamaru recognised him, he had seen him around the academy now and then and they had spoke on occasion. He frowned, knowing what this meant. It was troublesome.

'Eh? Ino? Who's that?' Chouji asked, speaking his mind as he always did.

Ino perched herself on the arm rest of Shikamaru's chair, 'He's a jounin. Apparently we need to-'

'Meet with the Hokage. Got it.' Shikamaru interrupted, already bored by the situation.

'No, you don't.' Ino muttered,

'What d'ya mean?' He asked, though he had a tugging in his chest at what he thought it might be.

'Shikamaru Nara, Ino Yamanaka, Chouji Akimichi, you three are to follow me immediately.'

The two boys looked at Ino, who shrugged, leaning closer to Shikamaru's ear and whispered ; 'He wouldn't let me come and get you myself. I think we're going somewhere. He told me we weren't in trouble or anything, so don't worry 'bout that..'

Shikamaru tried to ignore the irritating feelings that had rushed through him as her breath had gently brushed over the skin on his neck, passing it as a tickle, and frowned at the jounin. 'Why does the old woman want us to come with you?'

'Questions can be asked when you're there. She'll be there. Come, now.' He replied, a bored expression on his face and he was already walking away from them. Shikamaru had an urge to run straight up to him and demand to know exactly what was going on, if it was what he thought it could be then he was going to have a lot of rows with the Hokage- Ino and Chouji weren't ready for something like this, he himself doubted his skills in it. But being the guy who didn't like to cause a fuss and knowing he had to follow orders, he huffed a sigh and jumped to his feet, nodding at his team mates to follow.

'But my food-' Chouji started, and let out a disappointed grunt before cleaning what was left off his plate and standing up. 'Fine,' He sighed, looking eagerly at the kitchen area and pouting.

Shikamaru shoved his hands in his pockets, following the older jounin out of the restaurant and into the slightly dim evening, lit up by lanterns and lights shinning from shops and restaurants in every direction.

'Hey, what happened to your hand?'

Shikamaru looked to Chouji, who was questioning the adult ninja and pointing to his right hand that was bandaged. Ino let out a small noise that sounded somehow apologetic and awkward at the same time, rubbing the back of her neck and grinning sheepishly. Shikamaru already guessed what had happened.

'Don't tell me you hit him?' He asked her, grimacing at the memories of how painful her punches were and feeling a little sorry for the man.

'Well he just- he turned up in my room all of a sudden, and it was creepy! I didn't know what to do, so I just sort of…ah-ah, I'm sorry!' Ino was blushing furiously as she apologised to the jounin, who chuckled, showing a smile for the first time since he had arrived.

'I told you its okay. Besides, you cleaned it up pretty fine. Now, come on,' He ordered, nodding in the direction he was walking and carrying on towards their destination.

* * *

A/N: Heeeeeeeeeee Time for chapter break here me thinks. Tell me what you think with a review please! I'll love you for ever and ever and ever and- *gets hit in the back of the head with a frying pan by some unknown reader*-

…

Well.

You get the point T.T.

Anyways! Thanks for reading 3

Disclaimer: I don't own Full Metal Alchemist.

…

Wait.

Wrong manga.

*Clears throat*

Disclaimer: I am Superman! Therefore you can't sue me, because I'd just kick your butts. BUWAHHAHA.

….Plus, just cuz I'm superman doesn't mean I have a lot of money. Its not fair to sue people with no money ;-;

Seriously, it isn't.

…

I don't own Naruto. Nor do you, for that matter. C:


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